(NTBs) aretrade barriersthat restrictimportsbut are not in the usual form of atariff .Some common examples of NTB's are anti-dumpingmeasures andcountervailing duties,which,although they are called "non-tariff" barriers, have the effect of tariffs once they are enacted.Their use has risen sharply after the WTO rules led to a very significant reduction in tariff use. Some non-tariff trade barriers are expressly permitted in very limited circumstances, when they are deemednecessary to protect health, safety, or sanitation, or to protect depletable natural resources. In other forms, they are criticized as a means to evadefree traderules such as those of theWorld TradeOrganization(WTO), theEuropean Union(EU), or North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) thatrestrict the use of tariffs.Some of non-tariff barriers are not directly related to foreign economic regulations, but nevertheless theyhave a significant impact on foreign-economic activity and foreign trade between countries.Trade between countries is referred to trade in goods, services and factors of production. Non-tariff barriers to trade include import quotas, special licenses, unreasonable standards for the quality of goods,bureaucratic delays at customs, export restrictions, limiting the activities of state trading, exportsubsidies, countervailing duties, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, rules of origin, etc. Sometimes in this list they include macroeconomic measures affecting trade.

There are several different variants of division of non-tariff barriers. Some scholars divide betweeninternal taxes, administrative barriers, health and sanitary regulations and government procurementpolicies. Others divide non-tariff barriers into more categories such as specific limitations on trade,customs and administrative entry procedures, standards, government participation in trade, charges on